I've got some teeny-tinys in one of the winter-sowed pots outside. They're still so small, haven't even considered doing anything with them yet. But when I do, I'll probably follow what is now becoming my standard procedure: divide into little clumps and plant out, as is. After they start to grow, thin them to 2 or 3 strong ones. This has worked so well for me the last couple of years, and the work is minimal which is appealing. They amaze me with their resilience, growing up to the 3-4 ft mark even given the initial crowding. They're also self-seeding now, which they didn't do before.

Here is the master list of seeds contained in the 2006 Seed Swap Box. Not everything has been scientifically identified. Some are store bought seed packets others are garden collected. If you want something, send in your left over seeds and I'll mail you what I've got. By mid March I plan on sending the leftovers to the Gulf area to aid the hurricane victims. Send anything to Raleigh Garden, Box 352, Garner NC 27529-0352 PERENNIALS Hollyhock - Dbl Yellow, Pinks, Purple Mix, Peach Unknown Hibiscus BabyÂs Breath Sea Holly Hosta - Med Blue & Large Green Hosta Inniswood, Hosta ventricosa Calamintha grandiflora Tickseed - Coreopsis lanceolata Digitalis - foxglove Silene Heuchera - CoralBells Columbine - various species (not canadensis) Liatris Rudbeckia - Cherokee Sunset Astilbe Echinacea - Purple Cone Flower Siberian Iris Platycodon - Pastel Blend Columbine - Aquilegia canadensis TROPICALS & MISC Chaste Tree - Vitex Hibiscus militaris Oleander - Nerium oleander - Pink, Hot Pink Brugmansia sauveolens Texas Star Hibiscus Old ManÂs Beard Golden Rain Tree Carolina Allspice Mimosa tree ANNUALS Forget Me Nots Snow in Summer Morning Glory - Grandpa Otts Bidens - Golden Eye Red Poppy Sweet William - Mixed Spilanthes - Eyeball Plant Euphorbia marginata Marigold - Safari Mix, MomÂs Yellow Tagetes erecta - Cempoalxochitl Marigold or ÂDay of the Dead Marigold Pennisetum alopecurcoides ÂMoudry Cleome - Mixed Datura - La Fleur Lilac Impatiens balsamina - Touch Me Nots Tithonia rotundiflora ÂTorch Gaillardia Chinese Houses - Collinsia BlueBonnet - Maroon Sunflower - Cinnamon Su n Verbena bonairensis Cardinal Creeper VEGGIES Tomatoes - Supersweet 100 Carrots Bell Pepper - Red (from Italy)­ Corn - Checkerd Choice Sweet Corn Corn - Bloody Butcher Dent Corn Corn - Silver Queen Hybrid HERBS Anthemis Anise Hyssop Italian Parsely Cilantro Garlic Chives Agastache ÂBlue FortuneÂ

I received a surprise today from Chris (grolikecrazy)! Thank you. :) The plain letter envelope had holes in it- looks like it was damaged in transit. There was no bubble wrap or other padding inside of it to cushion the seeds. Seeds sent to me with no bubbles almost always do get destroyed like this, because the PO runs mail through some hard metal rollers unless it's in a bubble mailer marked FRAGILE in big red letters. :( The Dianthus barbatus seeds were about 75% destroyed and the Red Noodle Yard Long Bean seeds were completely dust. Thank you grolikecrazy, for kindly sending to me. I can still sow the few Dianthus seeds that made it, and hopefully get some plants! Excited about that. :) I'm sorry this happened, Chris. You were so kind to send seeds to me. I'm very glad you were thinking of me, and some of the Dianthus seeds do appear to be usable. It made my day to receive this, even if it is just a few seeds. : ) Thanks, Grovespirit Wondering why the surprises I mailed out haven't shown up here yet. I do hope they didn't get lost in the mail.

Nik, I agree with Ingrid. I happen to love this rose, but not for the individual blooms. It makes a great impression, but more for impact than detail. Though is does go through a (short) phase of lovely buds, the open bloom is at best described as "messy". At full bloom, the petals are quilled, but "arranged" (there IS no arrangement, lol) in a haphazard form...imagine a pink octopus with Attention Deficit Disorder. Howeverrrrrrrr...when it blooms, it explodes. It may have something to do with the fact it's one of my hardier teas, almost never suffering winter dieback. That shouldn't be an issue in your climate anyway, so if you want a bang of color, BS will make you smile. For me, in my less than tea-friendly climate it's definitely a shrub, but occasionally puts out a longer sprout. Those bits appear mostly as late-season growth and are the only winter-kill it gets. So I do think it wants to be bigger than my growing season will let it be. Mine is a fairly bushy 4', maybe 5' if you count the outlier sprigs, lol. I'm sure it would be larger for you, but can't make a guess if it would climb or not. John